For clarity, the present invention will be described in relation to an electrostatic marking system such as printers, facsimile, copiers, multifunctional machines and the like. However, the concepts and embodiments defined herein can easily be adapted for use in other office or other general products; these are intended to be included within the spirit of this invention.
By way of background and introduction, the following describes the basics of an electrostatic marking system.
In an electrostatographic reproducing apparatus commonly used today, a photoconductive insulating member may be charged to a negative potential, thereafter exposed to a light image of an original document to be reproduced. The exposure discharges the photoconductive insulating surface in exposed or background areas and creates an electrostatic latent image on the member which corresponds to the image areas contained within the original document. Subsequently, the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive insulating surface is made visible by developing the image with a developing powder referred to in the art as toner. During development, the toner particles are attracted from the carrier particles by the charge pattern of the image areas on the photoconductive insulating area to form a powder image on the photoconductive area. This image may be subsequently transferred to a support surface such as copy paper to which it may be permanently affixed by heating or by the application of pressure. Following transfer of the toner image to the support surface, the photoconductive insulating surface may be discharged and cleaned of residual toner to prepare for the next imaging cycle. This defined electrostatic system and reproducing apparatus is known as the Image Output Terminal (I.O.T.) or Processor Module.
When handicapped people in wheelchairs use office equipment such as electrostatic marking systems, certain difficulties have been observed. The height of the printer (or copier or fax) makes it difficult for the handicapped person to reach many components including the top platen glass. The low paper tray locations below the Image Output Terminal (hereinafter I.O.T.) or processor module make it almost inaccessible to handicapped people who have trouble bending down or stretching. Even just placing an original document on top of the platen can be a task for people in wheelchairs, etc. Today, it is virtually impossible for a person in a wheelchair to access all copier functions including the document handler or paper trays that need to be frequently loaded.